Pages

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

3 Hours of Raw was painfully to long despite a decent show overall. I watch WWE to avoid in part basketball and it be an escape from having to talk or think about it. A.W the manager of the "Prime Time Players" made reference to Kobe Bryant in comparison to Titus ONeal. I will not rehash what was said for a second time. Feel free to check my thoughts out on it in Dino Nation Blog my blog/job talking Toronto Raptors and NBA.

The combination of being a proud Canadian, covering basketball and 3 hours of Raw being to damn long made this show seem to go on forever. I went into Raw with really only one interest and that was what C.M Punk would have to say about his actions of last week and his apparent HEEL TURN. Beyond that I really had little interest in what would go on in this show.

Punk came out off the top of the show. Well after some actual news was reported that is. Chris Jericho made reference to this on Twitter but it was mentioned off the top of the show as well. WWE almost burned the house down before the show even got started in Cincy. As WWE explained it through Cole and King, a pyro test set the side of the new Raw set on fire. This delayed fans from entering the building for about an hour. This all happened about 30 minutes prior to when Fans would have been let in the building. So make you jokes about this being a HOT SHOW now I guess.

C.M Punk then would enter the ring and said he would address what he did to The Rock in a minute but first had something else to address. He was upset that The King said that he had and he quoted " Turned his back on the WWE Universe" and he continued on to make valid points on how Jerry was jumping to conclusions. He did a pretty good shoot on how The King is a pretty piss poor announcer. He then went on to say that the WWE Champion was the most important thing on RAW. He referred to The Rock as some delusional Movie Star that shows up every once in awhile. He made reference to how The Rock interrupted him and then basically ignored him. How he was just handed a title shot at the Royal Rumble and that he just assumed that he would win. Punk said that Rock was lucky he didn't drop him right there on the spot. He then said that The Rock would come out and try to steal his spotlight and be a hero. So he basically took care of him. Something he would reference later in the night to John Cena that he was able to do in one night that John Cena couldn't do in a year. He also mentioned how you don't hear The Rock talking trash about him on Twitter. He would be interrupted by the Big Show. Show had a different take on things saying that Punk couldn't even pin a knocked out Cena after he his him with a knockout punch. Show claimed if not for his interference that Punk would have tapped out in the STF that Cena had applied. That the spotlight of the 1000th episode of Raw was him causing John Cena to be the first to fail to cash in the Money in Bank and become champion.

This would cause Cena to come out and he would attack show. Punk now in the ring looked on rather smugly with his WWE Titile belt over his shoulder. This would bring out A.J who had one of Stephanie McManon's power suits shrunken to fit her. It sure looked like it anyway. A.J says as her first act as Raw G.M she is making the Main Event for the Show. It will be John Cena vs The Bog Show and the winner will face C.M Punk at Summerslam. That was you opening segment.

Let's start a feature "Segment I Didn't Need To See" and the winner is....Vicky Gurrerro coming out to interrupt Brodus Clay and saying that she could dance better than the girls he has with him aka the Funkadactals. Damien Sandow would eventually come in and end this pain. A close second to this would have been a match between Lord Tensai and Tyson Kidd. It was kinda pointless with one guy being given a light push in Kidd and another guy in Tensai aka Albert who honestly has been a total bust almost from the start and has quickly taken a slide to the lower mid card from the Main Event. He may need to beg Zack Ryder to get some camera time soon. Ryder knows all about a fall from somewhere to nowhere in record time.

Randy Orton is back and he squashed Heath Slater as Slater had called out anyone on the current roster to challenge him after he felt he was now free from the WWE Legends who he said had all returned to the retirement home. Orton is clean shaven and has a new hair cut but pretty much the same guy in the ring. He is back for strike 2 on the WWE Wellness policy. He did look smaller in size as a result. The interesting non wrestling angle will be if he gets a strike 3. The policy reads after a 3rd offense a talent would be gone. It makes it unclear on if they could ever return. Also if they returned if they would start with a clean slate. Orton has had his issues over the years. If not for his popularity and being a legacy of the company with his father not sure the WWE would have bothered to keep him around. He is clearly over as a Superstar and they have few of those these days.

Alberto Del Rio squashes Santino and the U.S Title in one promo. Saying wrestling him and referencing the fact he was U.S Champ was below him. He said that he refuses to compete in a match until it is for the World Championship. Which he will be facing Sheamas for at Summer Slam. Speaking of the hardly pushed shoved down your throat World Champion he would face Daniel Bryan on this card. More though WWE Fans....(Just not watching in Canada on The Score who shows Raw an hour later now than actual start time ) can vote on what type of match it will be. They have branded these as RawActive matches where WWE fans can decide. Here is the trick though. You decided nothing. It was a) no holds barred b) falls count anywhere or c) Street Fight. So basically this was going to be a no DQ style match no matter what is selected. The differences between the 3 types of matches are minimal to none at all. This was the match of the night as it turned out. Sheamus getting the win after a very physical match.

How this came about was Bryan going in to talk with A.J and A.J says she knew what Bryan had planned and why he was going to marry her. He was going to have A.J put in a mental institution. Bryan denies this and is informed he will face Sheamus to which he asks if it is for the Title A.J responds NO NO NO. On entering the ring Bryan says to the fans only he is allowed to say YES YES YES...Kinda of a throw back to The Rock heel move in which he tells the fans they have lost there right to play sing along with The Rock. After the match Bryan refuses to leave the ring and demands a doctor come to the ring. He is confronted by Truth and Kofi. Bryan after they ask him to leave the ring goes over to Little Jimmy and introduces himself and then punts the imaginary friend of R-Truth out of the ring. He would call for 4 guys in the back to take Truth away and they were interrupted by A.J who orders them to take Daniel away as she feels he needs to be evaluated on if he is mentally fit. This makes no sense seeing as these are the guys that Bryan had hired to have A.J put away. But whatever. I would little to some stupid segments with Bryan and a doctor in the back and eventually he would be deemed sane and than was attacked by Kane. At one point Bryan questioned the Doctor and asked if Charlie Sheen had put him up to this. It sure seems like were going down that path to some match with Sheen and Bryan at Summer Slam.

There was a tag match with a re-united tag team of the past of Christian and Y2J vs The Miz and Ziggler. This match continued feuds for all involved and to be honest I really don't even recall the finish. It really didn't matter much so who cares.

As for the Main Event C.M Punk would come out on commentary. As the match went on he basically killed The King at one point reference the amount of notes he had and compared it to the ones The Rock has for his promos. He also along the way ripped Cole for calling a hold wrong which was likely not intended but just points out how bad he sucks in comparison to J.R. Punk who had stated early to John Cena in the back said he did not care who won had stayed neutral in comments on the match itself and did not get involved until the Big Show involved him by throwing Cena in his lap quite literally. This send both to the ground. Cena would enter the ring and beat the count out. He would rally and was about to go for the Attitude Adjustment when Punk came in attacked both making it a no contest. He calls both losers and walks off and exits the ring area and heads to the back. A.J comes out and says Punk is in fact wrong that both are winners and that at Summer Slam it will be C.M Punk defending against Big Show and John Cena in a Triple Threat.

Punk returns unhappy about this and says that A.J is terrible G.M and she needs to respect him as the WWE Champion.

This makes for a match that really no one wants to see at Summer Slam and it is likely booked that way to make the HHH/Brock Match the true main event as it is booked to be. We were treated to 2 or 3 replays of the segment from last week that led to this match being made. I am as big a fan of HHH as anyone but the fact this is being booked as the Main Event is wrong and it speaks to the exact problem C.M Punk is using as the basis of this move to a more neutral and eventually Heel Character. Both the WWE Champion and World Champion are being overshadowed by a match involving part time talents and that is a problem. While HHH and Brock never actually feuding in Brock's time with the company I don't see this feud as something that should trump your Champions. In fact has there ever been a point in which titles over all have meant so little in WWE. Let's review.

Punk WWE Champion- Has had a long title run that they have highlighted in the storyline but in that time has rarely been booked as the main event on PPV's thus taking the luster of both the run and the title itself.

Sheamus World Champion- His 17 second win over Bryan has doomed this title run from the start. No matter how much they push him he can't get past that. He also has lacked any really storylines for title matches and has been booked a few times as the opening match on a PPV. World Title means even less than WWE Title.

The Miz I-C Champ- Walks back from making a movie and wins the belt. Has done little for a character and performer that fans are sick of and never really missed The Miz when he was gone.

Santino U.S Champ- Utter disgrace. He is a comedy joke performer and Del Rio himself in character pointed out how pointless he is and so is the U.S Title which for as long as he holds it becomes less and less of value. This use to be a major title in the WCW Days. Which might be why the WWE books it like a joke. In any case Santino should never have a title in his current persona.

Tag Champs Kofi and Truth- Tag Team division as whole stinks and Kofi regardless of partner has become a joke. R-Truth also falls in line with Santino as more of a comedy act than a champion.

Divas Champ- Layla - One she got the title as a reward for working hard to comeback from an injury. Nice gesture but terrible booking. 2) the divas division is a joke and badly needs a push as a whole and some new talent.

Zack Ryder and is made up Internet title have about as much relevance as some of the actual WWE Championships and that is a serious problem. The show was decent but the length made it painful. I am not sure once basketball season starts if I personally can commit 3 hours to this on Monday. While I wonder who cries more at the state of titles? Ric Flair over the World Title, Arn Anderson over the U.S Title, Strike Force over Tag Titles, Randy Savage over I-C Title or Trish Stratus over the Women's Division as a whole. Ultimately maybe none of them above as the current product today makes all of them look better by comparison.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

If you take C.M Punk out of the 1000th episode of Raw it was really not exactly a great show maybe not even a good show. Finally the WWE did something right on a big night with lots of eyeballs watching. At the end of this show if you were not talking about CM Punk you really missed the point. Will run through that rest of the stuff first and then get to CM Punk and his role in this show.

As advertised the show started with D.X who was introduced by Vince McManon. Odd as that was. However Vince did deserve to take a bow after all this is the show he created so I had no problem with that. HHH and Shawn hit the ring and do there normal D.X routine but Shawn says to Hunter he feels like something is missing. Then out come in the jeep that they once invaded WCW in were Road Dog, Billy Gunn and X-Pac. The group would eventually be interrupted by Damien Sandow. He would cut a great promo on how DX represented what had become wrong with society and he suggest that he knew the group of them could beat him up (he said it with bigger words) but if they did he would be a martyr for the cause of human decency. DX asked him to wait while the pondered what he had to say. After a DX cheer they came back and Hunter said they had decided and wham Sandow took a super kick into a pedigree and was thrown from the ring. It was all cute and fun but in the end something was missing. Chyna wasn't there. Which was no shock really but in D.X Fashion a cut out of Cyhna would have worked just as well. It really seemed hollow without some reference to her.

From there we had a pretty pointless 6 man tag match between Rey, Sin Cara and Sheamus vs Del Rio, Jericho (didn't he turn face last week) and Dolph Ziggler. J.R came out to call this match for no other reason than to have J.R come out and call a match. I don't get why J.R keeps coming back if he is not taking his job back. It really makes no sense. About only thing in this match that mattered was the finish in which Ziggler caused Jericho to lose the match. It was a waste of time for the most part. Just a preview of the fun to come with 3 hour Raw now every week.

In fact let's Just go point form for the rest of this stuff other than the Wedding between A.J and Daniel Bryan and the final match with Punk and Cena. Actually will do a little on Brock and HHH too. What else happened will be below:

Christian lost the I-C belt to The Miz who turned out to be the challenger. Bret Hart would be part of this match as the guest Ring announcer. Many of the uses of former stars seemed just forced and pointless. This was one of those. Christan would injury a leg in the match and this would allow the Miz to come out on top. Why we are putting a belt on The Miz is really anyone's guess. Pointless comes to mind. Ironically The Miz has never been I-C Champ as he was pushed to the top so fast there was no time for an I-C title run.

Brotus Clay vs Jack Swagger lasted all of 1 min. It was an excuse to have Mick Foley who came out prior to match to dance with Clay in his alter Ego Dude Love.

Trish Stratus tried to teach HHH yoga and rest of D-X walks in and gets wrong idea. Which calls to mind a Raw memory in which HHH was trying to teach Trish how to wrestle and Stephanie walked in and got the wrong idea.

Of course we had to have a Heath Slater squash match. Slater said he wanted a no DQ anything goes match with any Legend that wanted to come to the Ring. Ultimate Warrior? No, Iron Sheik? No, Lita would be the one to answer this challenge? But she informed Slater she hired some protection and that would bring out the APA and Bradshaw and Ron Simmons. Slater decided to take a pass and had his exit blocked by all the legends he had run ins with.

There was a back stage thing with A.J and the pointless Divas Champion Layla and she asks A.J if she wants to go through with the wedding and A.J says she is not crazy at least in comparison to what goes on here. We see Mae Young with a guy in a Hand costume that is her son from that awful angle. Piper and R-Truth doing jump rope with little Jimmy. and Hacksaw doing something stupid.

Charlie Sheen was actually part of the show and did 3 pointless interviews during the night and believe it or not left you with impression he would fight someone at Summer Slam. Can't say who yet. because it involves one of major angles.

Kane would be surrounded by 6 Jobbers leading to an appearance by his brother the Undertaker and they would waste the 6 jobbers that included Hawkins and T-Rex, Jinder Mahal and a cast of nobodies. It was a pretty awful waste of Undertaker making his first appearance since Wrestlemania.

There was also some pretty brutal advertising spots for Tout and Sonic as well. I am on Tout maybe beating you over the head with something in advertising works.

anyway on to the Wedding. Slick would be the minster for this affair and age has not been kind to Slick. The crowd was chanting NO NO NO and loud throughout the wedding. It was kinda of typical WWE wedding more or less. Bryan when asked if takes A.J he says Yes!. A.J when asked almost before Slick could spit it out responds Yes! Yes! Yes! and Slick is about to make this thing official and legal when A.J interrupts and says she was not saying yes to Daniel. She was given another proposal from a Man earlier today. Then what happens next was a true shock. Vince McManon's Music hits. He comes out with Mic in hand. He informs Daniel that is was not that kind of proposal it was a business proposal and he wants to introduce the NEW G.M of Raw.....A.J!!! A.J gets that funny look on her face and skips around Bryan and exits the ring skipping away. Bryan is furious and is tearing apart the wedding set that is required for WWE Wedding.

After a commercial Bryan is still in the ring. Then C.M Punks music hits and he comes out. He basically says what happened to Bryan could not have happened to a nice guy. He says we will continue being WWE Champ and wishes Bryan luck as with A.J as G.M it can't mean good things for his career (Which turns out to be true later but not because of that ). Bryan says that Punk is not even the best in this ring let alone the Best In The World. That he is the Greatest Of All Time.

(Rocks Music Hits and This just got interesting)

The Rock informs Bryan that THE PEOPLE determine who is the greatest of all time. He does his typical Rock stuff. Finally he is back in St Louis and ends up calling Bryan a Troll from Lord of the Rings and calls him an Uppa Luppa.

The Rock than turns his attention to Punk and says he is here to talk about the WWE Championship. He announces that he will face whoever is the WWE Champion at the Royal Rumble. Punk congratulates Rock and tells him he will fill in the blank for him that he will be that guy. He will beat John Cena tonight and he can't wait and wishes Royal Rumble was tomorrow. The Rock says he won his first title right here in St Louis and he will beat whoever he faces at Royal Rumble and become WWE Champion.

Bryan interrupts and says some how some way he will be who The Rock faces and that he is going to be the face of the WWE. The Rock says that he was not out here to talk to him and makes a couple jokes. He wishes CM Punk luck in his match tonight and then tell Bryan it is not all bad for him because he did get him a wedding present which would be a Rock Bottom.

Bryan later in the night would be insulted by Charlie Sheen and Bryan would respond with his own comments and it would appear believe it or not were head to some sore of match with Sheen and Bryan at Summer Slam. It seems totally Bizarre to me. But it was clearly angled to think that is where this is going. Sheen said that any time he is in L.A Bryan can find him Summer Slam funny enough is in L.A

More on Punk and Rock later but the other big event of night was would Brock would accept the challenge of HHH to fight at Summer Slam. Paul Heyman would come out and not Brock and HHH said he didn't want to talk to Horses Ass he wanted to talk to horses head. Heyman after some insults at HHH would declare that Brock had instructed him to say no to the match. HHH would start calling Brock names to which Haymen suggested was childish and suggested it was a poor example for HHH's Children. That setthe game off and he would almost strike Heyman. He would remind HHH of the lawsuits he already has caused but then eventually apologize out of fear. Only to once again bring up his children to which prompts

(Stephanie McManon Music to Hit)

She comes in and she claims that Heyman is the failure and that his kids are really ashamed of him. Calls him nothing more than a hanger on of others. Heyman gets angry and asks here if she wants this. To see Brock end her husbands career. He then references the children again. She ends up telling Heyman to never talk about her Children again and when he does again She slaps him and then takes him down to mat. This prompts Brock to come out HHH makes sure Steph gets out of ring. Brock as a result gets jump on him. The Game would make a comeback and eventually knock Brock from the Ring. So we have are match and may see Heymen and Steph in the corners? Maybe not guess will see in next few weeks.

The Rock breaks up a totally useless Zack Ryder store in which he is trying to convince Mean Gene (Who is there with them) was responsibly for G-T.V which was an angle that never did have an answer. When the Rock shows up Zack and Gene O take a powder. Rock basically give the same good luck speech he gave Punk and Cena says he will win tonight and he will be the guy to Face The Rock in January.

So now time for the WWE Title Match. How bout we cut to the finish. Cena has Punk pinned after a F-U they did use to call it that. but prior to that Punk had collided with the ref and he was out on the floor. Do you smell a run in? Yup but it was not The Rock it was the Big Show that would arrive and proceed to take out Cena. Punk with the distraction of the Big Show coming down had crawled to a corner. He sat and watched as Big Show would take down Cena and then look to finish him off the the K.O Punch. Punk after that landed seemed conflicted about what he should do. Eventually he would decide to bring the Ref around got him into the ring and went for the cover. Cena would kick out and not long after Show would come in attack Cena and thus your winner by DQ is C.M Punk. Punk would do nothing about Show's attack on Cena instead he would take his Title Belt and exit the ring. The Rock would come out and attempt to save Cena to which C.M Punk would return to the Ring and lay him out eventually hitting him with the Go To Sleep. The show ends with Punk in the ring looking at a fallen Cena and Rock.

It would appear that Punk and Rock will wait till Royal Rumble to square off. I had suggested it might happen at Summer Slam but I would Imagine we see a Punk Cena re-match from last year at Summer Slam. That match was won by Punk but he would get attacked by Kevin Nash and Alberto Del Rio would cash in Money in the Bank and win the title. All the stars seem to be aligning to see a Rock vs Cena rematch for the WWE Title at Wrestlemania while it would make a ton of sense if Stone Cold were the guest ref for that match at Royal Rumble. He could screw Punk out of his title leading to a Punk vs Austin match also at Wrestlemania. Austin was not there tonight as he is currently working on a movie. Not knowing his schedule it is hard to say if this is possible. However what we do know is C.M Punk has stated many times his dream match is to face Austin. While Austin has said he would work with Punk if the price was right to do so. WWE may have this all done and in the bank or they may not. Now it seems they have almost no choice but to make this match happen.

It was a brilliant Heel Turn for Punk and it clearly saved this show that honestly had not lived up to the significant hype. There were no really huge surprise returns. Other than A.J being named G.M of Raw not much else on this show was all that great. Hunter and Brock stuff was all fairly predictable. However at the end of the night everyone walked away talking about C.M Punk and if that was the plan it was masterfully executed. To often on nights like tonight the current talent gets buried by all the returning stars. Tonight that was not the case at least in terms of the ending. C.M Punk just over a year after stating he was going to bring change to the WWE may finally have started his true revolution tonight. Punk and Rock should be a much more interesting feud on the mic. In the ring it should be better as well. Punk just seemed to be getting stale as the #2 babyface despite being the Champion. He had been buried behind John Cena and not I suspect the Heel C.M Punk will no longer stand for being pushed to the shadows by Cena or anyone else. It honestly saved the show.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

This might have been on of the best Raw's in awhile. If for nothing else a lot of stuff happened leading towards the thousandth episode of Raw. For starters were going to have a wedding on the 1000th episode of Raw. If you know your wrestling history a wedding is not the happy occasion that you normally see in life. Probably the most famous was the wedding between Stephanie McManon and Test. This would be interrupted by HHH. He would role a video tape after stating his objection to this union. In the video it would show HHH and a drunk or drugged Stephanie getting married at a drive through wedding chapel. HHH would call Vince McManon Dad and the wedding ends with a crying Steph and a match would take place at the next PPV with HHH and Vince McManon. If McManon won HHH would agree to annul the marriage. What happen in that match was unexpected to say the least as Stephanie the Billion Dollar Princess would turn on her Dad and than proclaim that HHH really turned he on. It launched the McManon-Hemsley era and in an ironic twist this angle would lead to real life romance between Paul Levesque and Stephanie McManon. Seems fitting to mention as that angle all started in Vegas which was the host of Monday Night Raw. We have also seen a Kane and Lita wedding that Trish Stratus would interrupt in a outfit that is burned in my mind. Randy of course married Elizabeth at Summer Slam only to have that happy event be ruined at the post wedding reception as Jake The Snake would give the happy couple a surprise with a cobra in a gift box. This would lead to a long feud between Savage and Roberts and have Savage return to the ring after he had been forced to retire losing to the Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania 7. From Uncle Elmer to everything in between and since a wrestling wedding seldom disappoints. So who is getting married?

Daniel Bryan approaches A.J in the back and apologizes for his actions in the recent months. He claims he was blinded by wanting to beat Punk and become WWE Champion. As he was about to ask A.J Something Eve Torres interrupts and says that she is not happy about fact Bryan left her high and dry last week and has been granted a mixed tag match with her and partner of her choice (Which would turn out to be The Miz) and says that revenge is exactly what A.J is. So A.J wants to continue the conversation but Bryan says he will tell A.J after they win their match. You can see where this is going later in the night A.J with help from Bryan would get the Pin Fall and win the match. After which Bryan gets a mic and tells A.J would a fool he has been and he should have said this a long time ago. He loves A.J but obviously there in more. Bryan goes to the ropes and someone slips him a box and he drops to a knee as he did last week and asks A.J to marry him and places the ring on her finger. After much thought A.J says YES! than the two lead the crowd in YES! YES! YES! Chant. We later are informed that via Twitter Bryan and A.J have announced that they will get married on the 1000 episode of Raw. Some how I see this as far to simple. Bryan could turn babyface but a Wrestling Wedding NEVER EVER GOES HAS PLANNED.

As for C.M Punk he appears to be done with Bryan and by the end of the night we know that he is. The show actually opened with Punk in the ring. He cuts a promo about how this was the very place he did his famous pipe bomb promo and how so much has changed since that night. He talks about his long title reign and than is interrupted by the Big Show. Who they already announced will face Punk later in the night in a non title match. Punk claims that Show is nothing more than a highly paid under achieving Giant. Show point out that all it would take is one knock out punch and John Cena could come cash in his Money in Bank Briefcase on C.M Punk. It would lead to a match at the end of the night in which show would dominate the much smaller Punk but eventually would get DQed giving Punk the win but Show would continue on and was about to land his K.O Punch when Cena's Music hits and he rushes to the ring with his case in toe. All show Cena had been promoted as having a big announcement on what he was going to do relating to the brief case. Cena would grab a mic and was starting to speak when Show encourages him to cash in the briefcase saying there will never be a better time than right now and he would be a fool not to.do it. A ref enters the ring. Cena says that he will not face C.M Punk now and that he has one week to recover as he will cash in Money in the Bank on the 1000 Episode of Raw vs C.M Punk. Big Show angered by this gets up on the apron and is corked by Cena. So we will have Punk vs Cena and it should be noted The Rock will be on hand next week and last we saw him he had a dream about being WWE Champion again. How this plays in this WWE Title Match remains a mystery but you could bet The Rock is somehow involved in the outcome of this match.

There still was lots more Let's get the Minor stuff out of the way:

WWE had a poll asking what title WWE Fans wanted to see defending next week on 1000 episode of Raw. This prior to the WWE Title being defending obviously which was not known. In the end the fans had three options Christian and the I-C Title which they did select, The Divas Title and U.S Title were the other.

Zack Ryder finally was back on Raw..Jobbing out to Alberto Del Rio. Ryder was really a non-factor in this whole thing. After winning Del Rio would again slap on his cross arm breaker as Ryder had already tapped out. Who would save that poor idiot Zack Ryder....619....Yes Rey Mysterio made his return after about a year away from WWE. He would get a decent pop from crowd and would end up landing a 619 on Del Rio and he would slump away acting as if he had seen a ghost according to Cole.

Brodus Clay for whatever reason would fight JTG with a new hairdo and basically squash him

Also Heath Slater would get squashed by a WWE Legend...This week Rikishi would do the honours complete with Stink face.

Prime Time Players would take there title match tonight rather than on PPV which makes little sense but what does in WWE Tag Team Division and they would fail to win the Belts causing AW to have a fit on the Ref....all totally a waste of time and for whatever reason Kofi and R-Turth managed by Little Jimmy? remain Tag-team Champs.

DX is going to open the 1000th show we are told. Also scheduled to appear is The Rock, Brock, and you can also expect to see a ton of others.

WWE owns a video sharing company called Tout. That might explain why they promoted this thing like crazy all night. They hope there You Tube Lite that allows you to make 15 seconds videos about total nonsense. Fun isn't it? John Cena uses it which makes it cool for kids under 10.

Ryback had a match with Jack Swagger that was never really a match. In the ever confusing and fluid WWE Rulebook seems Swagger jumping Ryback as he entered the ring caused the ref to not call for the bell. Swagger actually had the advantage for a bit and than would get squashed by Ryback. Given how weak Swagger has been booked this helps restore him a little but more for me hurts the Ryback gimmick as Swagger not that long ago was wiped out by Big Show in under 2 minutes. So Ryback is obviously not as good as The Big Show. Not good booking there.

The other main angle on this show was Dolph Ziggler coming out to brag about his own Money in the Bank victory and how this is a Guarantee that he will be World Champion it is just a question of when. You would expect to see the World Champ appear but instead out comes Chris Jericho. Before Jericho is allowed to speak Ziggler cuts an awesome promo on Jericho and claims that he is not going to come in and ruin his moment. Than he proceeds to point out how Chris Jericho has failed since returning. In fact he says several times when exactly have you won a big match Chris? He points out how Jericho (Who invented the Money in Bank Match) has never won a Money in The Bank Match. Eventually Ziggler is given the code breaker and Jericho exits the ring. Just as he went from Face to heel with not so much as word. Jericho has gone from Heel to face the same way. It would appear that we are heading to a Ziggler vs Jericho feud which has the possibility of really getting Ziggler totally over with the fans. Both in ring and on the mic this should be an epic feud. It seems unclear what the motivation for Jericho would be in this but perhaps a match for the briefcase would be what the motivation could be.

So all in all this was one of the better Raw's in a long time as the lead in for 1000 episode of Raw. Which is in stark contrast to one of the worst lead in's to a PPV the WWE has ever done for Raw prior to a PPV. I have some things to feel genuinely excited for. I can't say that has been the case in quite some time. The 1000th Episode of Raw should not disappoint as I would expect it to be PPV like in nature. The challenge will be what happens the week after that? We also will find out who is going to be the New G.M of Raw and perhaps Smackdown as well next week on Raw.

Given this is Savage theme blog will rate things in OH YEAH'S!!! for this episode I would have to say it is a strong 4 Oh Yeahs!!!! Dig It!!! It was a good show it is hard to argue that it wasn't.

So that is what happened.as far as results go. As for the show itself I did not get to tune in for the Pre-Show or the opening match as I was covering the Raptors Summer League Game. But the main thing about the Smackdown or World Title Money in the Bank they got the right winner. Dolph Ziggler is the right guy to go over. So why do I get the feeling that Ziggler is going to become the first ever Money in Bank winner to fail to win the Title? Maybe the fact they teased him going for the belt in the very next match. Let's face it they are not having Cena fail to get the title. They have been playing up the fact no one has failed to win the title far to much for me to not think that someone is not going to turn that briefcase into gold. Sadly I think that will be Ziggler and think this will somehow lead to the end of his relationship with Vicky Guerrero which is long overdue.

Cena winning does keep the hope for my angle I wrote in having a Rock vs C.M Punk match with Cena eventually ending up the Champion. But this all will be figured out on the 1000 episode of Raw I would imagine. Who knows at this point. Sheamus remains the most dead character to have a World Title in history. The fact he won in 17 seconds over Daniel Bryan which made him a star.

Oh and THE MIZ made his return if anyone cares? I don't and recently found out he was off making a movie. I won't watch the movie and I can't imagine I will enjoy watching The Miz. Even when he was at his peak I never really thought The Miz was awesome. I am not sure where they go with the Miz now. I suspect now that he is claiming he is a movie star you can expect some kind of interaction with The Rock. Why I have no idea. The Rock couldn't make a star out of him before when they were involved in the Wrestlemania match between The Miz and Cena in which Miz retained thanks to The Rock indirectly.

Prime Time Players I liked at first. The addition of the AW Character has made this whole tag team worse. The WWE has done a fairly crappy job in trying to make the Tag Team Division relevant again. I am almost to the point that we should just eliminate the whole concept of tag team wrestling. It just doesn't work anymore. In the fast moving storyline of today there seems to be to much of a rush to break up tag teams and try and build individual stars. However the days of finding a Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart are long gone. Speaking of doing a crappy job the WWE Divas Division is in a state that should make Trish Stratus cry. You have a Divas champion that no one cares about in Layla and everyone has been waiting for a Karma return that now may never happen. Maybe Kelly Kelly will come back and save the Divas Division. Or should I say drive the final nail in the coffin. It is sad the state of the Divas Division and all of the Divas combined are not as strong as little A.J. Who can't really save the Divas Division either. because she is not believable as a wrestling talent in ring and definitely not a champion.

Other things of note. Ryback is a total waste of time. Goldberg 2012 is a total bore. The WWE is doing a terrible job at making new stars. Brodus Clay is already getting long in the tooth. It really is becoming an issue and the fact that they fail at this so badly is only going to make 3 hours of Raw more painful. That is coming in 8 days so prepare yourself.

That is my thoughts on the WWE Money in the Bank. It was such a step down from last year. In fact Wrestling has been in a nose dive ever since C.M Punk dropped his pipe bomb. All that has happened a year later is C.M Punk is more part of the corporate side of WWE. Hell C.M Punk has even given up the fight for our Ice Cream Bars. What happened to that? Ah Well least we get to see Punk wrestle which is good. About only good thing WWE has going for it.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

I will always consider myself a WWE/F guy and if my interest in that product died off, I can't imagine a way that I would remain a wrestling fan by simply watching TNA or ROH and not the WWE product. Call me a snob or whatever you like but I have been conditioned to think of the WWE/F as the true professional league in the world of wrestling. In my sports background in basketball I feel the same way in terms of the NBA being the top league in the world. Will I watch the occasional NBDL Game or some International Ball at times as well as college basketball?....Sure. Ultimately though I am not as emotionally invested in those forms of the sport. I can be entertained by them on occasion and will be excited to see basketball at the Olympics next month. At the end of the day though it is the same in wrestling for me. I can watch TNA or ROH and enjoy a show or a match but I don't feel the same investment in an Austin Aries that I do in say a C.M Punk. Punk might be a poor example as he ultimately comes from that same indy scene that Austin Aries came up from. But it is when that guy ultimately makes the big time in WWE that for me that person and wrestling character have truly made it. I loved "Stunning" Steve Austin, Chris Jericho with his bodyguard Ralphus and a number of other guys that cut their teeth in WCW. I never did fall in love with Terror Rizing the first character that Paul Levesque would play in WCW. I am pretty certain I never saw him as being a future star in WWE.

What I think the problem is at least when it comes to TNA is they feel the need to use old established WWE Stars that I long stopped caring about. The difference between WCW and TNA is that when WCW brought in stars like Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Bret Hart and an endless list of former WWE stars. What made it different was a lot of them went to WCW by choice not because they had no other option than to go to TNA. They still had my emotionally attachment and thus I would cheat on WWE often during the Monday Night Wars especially once Savage made the jump. I got to see Randy Savage beat up Dennis Rodman in a wrestling match. My worlds were colliding even back than. TNA doesn't have one guy that once was in the WWE that I would care about. It was sad to see the likes of Ric Flair and Mick Foley there and yes even Randy Savage for brief moments in the company's history. The likes of the Dudleys, Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, Mr Kennedy turned Mr.Anderson and likely a few that I am forgetting like RVD who was both ECW star and eventually would have his time in WWE. The point is I could care less about any of them. A lot of them are broken down versions of what they once were. At times you can still see greatness in Angle, RVD and others. Still there best days lie somewhere in the WWE Archives. Yes It's True Kurt Angle.

While I enjoyed the feud Angle had with Samoa Joe and it produced great matches I think you could list a number of his WWE feuds that we remember more. No matter how much they may fight it the fact is when you see any of the guys I mentioned in TNA or you see the World's Greatest's Tag Team in ROH or Maria being a heel in that same promotion you think of them as people the WWE no longer wanted. It is a hard and perhaps impossible shadow for them to escape. What can be worse is when these promotion's try to book them at the top of the card. It just seems wrong. About the only time it seems to have worked well for someone is Christian who left the WWE went back to being Christian Cage and became a World Champion in the TNA Promotion. When he would return to the WWE it seemed to help his stock rise and eventually he would get a World Championship run all be it short when Edge was forced to retire. He left WWE as a mid card talent, went elsewhere and became a main event talent and than reached that level in a return to the WWE. Those days are long gone as the I-C Champ now. A title that use to mean something. That is a story for another day though.

I guess the bottom line is after a certain point if a guy has not made the jump to WWE I wonder if he is even capable of doing it in terms of the home grown talent. Think about it, could you honestly see Samoa Joe, A.J Styles or Christopher Daniels in the WWE now? All have been great workers but at a certain point you just fail to see them as capable of making that leap. While currently I would wonder what an Austin Aries or a Bobby Roode could do in WWE. Am I doomed to just lose faith in that ever happening like with the 3 guys I mentioned prior. Matt Morgan is apparently on his way to the WWE. Morgan has the look that the WWE likes in terms of the prototype of what they want in a superstar. That said he is not even in the same league as the five wrestlers mentioned before him in this paragraph. Still wrestlers have broken through the WWE's ideal wrestler mold in the past and currently. Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio to current day stars Daniel Bryan and CM Punk. If you don't want to be in WWE you might have your reasons for doing so. Still at least for me you have to go to that big show to achieve the ultimate success this business has to offer.

What I find with both TNA and ROH is they try to go spot heavy and do a lot of the things the WWE has left behind in the attitude era for the most part. I think that is meant to compensate for what their stars lack in terms of mic skills in many cases. There still are some good talkers in these promotions but ultimately they are counting on putting their bodies through hell to get over. That is not a great way to have a long career. Ask a guy like Edge that likely had a lot of years ahead of him if he wanted them. The was a reason the WWE has cut back on those spot heavy matches and only bust them out for rare occasions. You need a healthy roster and eventually you do enough crazy spots and you will not have that. TNA almost learned that the hard way with the injury to Jessie Sorensen. He is lucky to be alive and not in a wheel chair for life. You can still have a great match without all the crazy spots if you are a true ring general like a Ric Fliar, Shawn Michaels, HHH, William Regal and many others you could list.

While having Hulk Hogan on the program and getting some attention for his want to be star daughter Brooke Hogan might be what TNA thinks is a way to draw an audience it really isn't. Hulkamania has been dead a longtime ago, just someone forgot to tell Hogan. Sting is no reason to watch either. Until the day comes that TNA can claim a WWE Star that you honestly believe could still be a star there it is a fight between a tank and a kid with water pistol. I may still watch TNA and think they are doing a better job in terms of their creative direction but you can have a great script and you still don't have a hit move unless you have some great actors to make the movie great. TNA and ROH lack that true leading man that you believe could walk in the WWE and slap C.M Punk in the face and say I am here and I am taking that title and you believe that he would be both capable of that and deserving to do that, till than TNA and ROH as well will just be the top of an Indy Wrestling food chain and are not even in the same business as the WWE. It is just a different level and is has been ever since Vince McManon bought WCW.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

It seems we are already locked into a Brock vs HHH Match at Summer Slam match. It will no doubt be billed as the main attraction for the show. Anytime HHH steps into the ring is a big deal these days and more he does is more proof the WWE feels it is desperate and he has too. However here is what your main event for Summer Slam should be. It likely won't be but here it is anyway. C.M Punk still your WWE Champion vs The Rock for the WWE Championship. Here is how it all makes sense. Let's start with how Punk gets out of Money in the Bank as still the WWE Champion. This whole A.J is crazy story comes to a close. After a long and no doubt great match between Punk and Bryan the Finish will be something like this. Punk plays like he is injured and Bryan moves in for the kill only to take the classic shot to the groin and lose as Punk finishes him off with a go to sleep after he springs back to his feet. Punk wins and A.J hands the belt to C.M Punk and skips off to the back.

The next night on Raw. An angry Daniel Bryan is in the ring and frustrated by losing because of A.J yet again. He demands she comes to the ring and explain her actions. Instead of A.J he gets C.M Punk. Who cuts the following promo.

C.M Punk: You know there was a time when I respected you. There was also a time that I called you bryan first and not last. But first, last or in the middle more has changed about you than just your name. You have become a complete and total ego maniac. So blind to everything around you. A.J for what ever crazy reason loved you. A man that looks like a goat with the face of goat. Instead of thanking your lucky stars this was the case you fell in love with being a champion. You fell in love with being the guy on top of ladder.
You lost A.J based on all of this and you were to blind to see that all that has gone on in the past few months was nothing more than you getting played. I normally would like to take responsibility for such a brilliant plan but I can't the real brains of this whole plan has been....
(A.J's Music Hits)

A.J: Thank you Punk. If not for you I would never have been able to get the revenge that I so rightly deserved. Daniel did you really think I was some stupid little girl that didn't see what was going on? I wasn't sure if Punk would go for it because I know how close you two have been. But he saw you for the jerk that you have truly become. Now 3 months after being the World Champion at Wrestlemania you head into Summer Slam not as that or as WWE Champion. You are nothing and I made you nothing. The only person that is CRAZY IS YOU for thinking that I was.
(C.M Punk grabs the Mic)

C.M Punk: That is right Daniel no more re-matches for you. I am done with you and on the 1000th Episode of Raw I am going to confront the man I want to defend this belt against next and that isn't you. So enjoy the fall back to being Irrelevance. There can only be one Best in the World and that is me.

So what Happens to A.J and Bryan? The feud continues with the introduction of Karma aka Awesome Kong. Bryan convinces Karma to destroy A.J and launches Karma into the WWE scene with a bang. The size difference will be massive and make Karma look like the true monster she is.

Now back to Punk and the 1000th Episode of Raw
The Rock returns and enters the Ring and says
Finally The Rock has....
Than This Happens:

C.M Punk: Please Spare us Dwayne. We know you have come back home to WWE to grace us with your totally awesome movie star self. We are so excited really. I don't agree about much when it comes to John Cena. However he was right about you. You show up here when it is convenient to do so. G.I Joe's Release gets pushed back and suddenly here in live and living colour it is The Rock. That same guy that Dwayne tried to run away from but can't ever escape. Spare us your you love the business and love us and how your family grew up in this business and all that crap. Let's face some facts if you were a good enough football player you never would have been in wrestling to begin with. See but unlike you quitting on Football and settling for Wrestling as a fall back I am a bit different. I was the guy who was in the Wrestling equivalent of the CFL. But I never got cut and went home and gave up. I became so good that eventually the WWE had no choice but to bring me in. I earned every single thing I got to have this belt.
But than on the night after Wrestlemania when I by the way if anyone noticed defeated Chris Jericho who as I recall once beat you and Austin in the same night. On a side note that was a long time ago Chris you might want to get something current on your resume aside from Dancing with the Stars loser. You on that night if you were to open your mouth which I suggest you don't would point out that you beat John Cena. Been there and done that and if John wants to take his little brief case and try to cash it in on me I will do it again. But back to my point you had the balls to come out here and say that one day you will once again be WWE Champion. You had a dream I think it was. Well I have dreams too. My dream is a little different though. It goes like this. I will in 5 seconds point out that I am the WWE Champion and I am standing right here. I will also point out that I don't have anyone to face at Summerslam and I want to make your dream a frigging nightmare. So basically to cut to the chase this is me challenging you to a match at Summer Slam.

The Rock: You got a big mouth for such a little man. What in the Blue Hell makes you think The Rock won't slap the taste out of your mouth and take your championship. I heard all the stuff you said before. I know you don't like me and let be make this crystal clear and the Rock means crystal clear. I don't like you either. So be careful what you wish for or you just might get it.

C.M Punk: Just so you know Rock I actually know more than the 5-7 moves you know when you decided to take on this fall back career in Wrestling. I may not be able to play a tooth fairy as well as you but what I do better than anyone else is wrestle. The best wrestler in the world is not some stupid catch phrase it is the truth. So see you at Summer Slam oh and I almost forgot. This match has a special guest ref and I think you know the guy pretty well.
(Austin's Music Hits)
C.M Punk exits the ring waving bye to the Rock.

So that is the basic story. How it continues is Austin would actually screw over Punk and The Rock would win the WWE Championship only to have Cena cash in his money in the bank and win the title setting up both an Austin vs Punk Mania match and if you wanted a rematch of Cena and The Rock.
This could be the start of a heel run for Cena or you could still keep him baby face and use the revenge angle for his loss at Wrestlemania and wait until than to make the ultimate heel turn to save his championship at WrestleMania if he enters as the Champion. You could also renew a feud with Cena and Punk to carry the company to at least Survivor Series.
The wildcard in all this is Austin and if he and WWE could come to a deal to have him appear at Summerslam and in a dream match vs Punk at Wrestlemania. But this is something the WWE needs badly and has the money to make it happen. Austin is on record saying for the right dollars he would work a match with Punk. So find that right figure and make it happen. This is a way to seriously save WWE from the Abyss they have slide into.

Not bad for a guy that has no soap opera writing experience huh? I just am a life long WWE fan that happens to know how to write a little. Will watch and see if the WWE Can come up with anything that is nearly as exciting.

One of the things that bothers me most is the WWE HALL OF FAME not having Randy Savage in it. Basically it devalues the entire thing for me. I could give you a long long list of guys in the Hall of Fame that are not half as deserving as Randy "Macho Man" Savage. The question has raged for years as to why this isn't so. Even Bret Hart who punched out Vince McManon's lights in Montreal the night of the Montreal Screw Job is in the WWE Hall of Fame. It was always be a point of great sadness that Randy was not put in the Hall of Fame before his unfortunate passing just over a year ago.

If you dig around on the internet there is an old theory as to why. As the internet urban legend goes it involves some sort of interaction between Stephanie McMahon and Savage. This incident is said to have occurred right before Savage left for WCW and never again would return to the WWF/E again. There seems to be a number of versions of it. Basically there some kind of interaction where Savage came on to Stephanie or she came on to him. There is also a third theory that the two got together and the story changed after the two had "hooked up". This rumor has been sort of confirmed by a few things. First there is Savage's brother Lanny Poffo that in one of those famous shoot interviews that you can find with old wrestlers on You Tube says that everyone knows why his brother is not in the hall of fame and suggests that the stuff on the internet is true. What also seems to confirm it indirectly is Savage when he went to a pretty strange place cut a promo on HHH and Stephanie that was two strange for words.

So it appears this may be fact. I also am a fan HHH which makes this all pretty awkward for me. However this was a long time ago and it appeared in the later years of Savages life that he and the WWE had been on better terms. Savage had returned in video games and in a series of collectable figures. This seemed to clear the path for Savage to enter the hall of fame. There is even speculation on the internet from various interviews that Savage was in fact offered the Hall of Fame and declined induction.
Obviously Randy is no longer around to confirm or deny if this is true or not. His brother Lanny Poffo who had runs in WWF as "Leaping" Lanny Poffo and later as the The Genius claims that Savage refused and would not enter the hall of fame unless it was the entire Poffo Family was inducted. Something Lanny now claims was his brother's wish and desire. He also claims that the family would never be party to Savage going into the Hall of Fame unless this is so. You could make a case that Angelo Poffo the father of both could be a candidate for the Hall of Fame but Lanny Poffo? Get serious. The only Family that is inducted in the Hall of Fame is the Von Erich's who were legends in the territory days in Texas.
Lanny Poffo is a bitter jaded ex-wrestler to a large degree. Not like there is not a ton of those. If he were to stand in the way of his brother getting honored by the WWE and give the millions of fans like me that grew up loving Randy the chance to honour him it would be the first time Poffo has been a good heel or face in wrestling career. Let's face facts Randy Savage build a legendary career while Lanny Poffo was a bit player in terms of the WWE who's career highlight was one match vs Hulk Hogan on a Saturday Night's Main Event as the Genius. He never appeared on any of the early Wrestlemania's or on a Wrestlemania at all that I recall.

Something is really wrong when it is Phil Brooks AKA CM Punk that is keeping Randy Savage alive today. Punk started adding the Savage Elbow as part of his moves after his death. Even Recently Punk did the classic Savage Axe Handle to the outside of the ring. Yet his own jealous brother is making it difficult to have Savage be honoured by the WWE? C.M Punk wanted to beat up Chris Brown while that would be great to see it would also be nice to see him kick Lanny Poffo's old ass around as well. It might be more entertaining than Heath Slater getting his butt kicked by WWF Dinosaurs from the past.
This didn't really touch on anything going on today to much. However I felt the need to talk about this issue first as my journey into being a wrestling fan began with Randy Savage so should me talking about Wrestling. After the Raw I watched last night there really is no words for how low we have sunk in terms of the wrestling product these days. It was really cool of the WWE Soap Opera writers to bury the WWE Champion by of all people Eve Torres? Really..Yeah that is brilliant. I have a better idea but I doubt you will go there WWE. But will save that for next time. I thank any of you that check out my new hobby here. I still have a basketball site to run so I can not guarantee you this will be a daily or even weekly thing. Let's call it an experiment that I will use to vent from about my thoughts on Wrestling.

If you are a Randy Savage fan you might get the title of this blog. It is a line from a Savage promo in which he talks about buying a condo on the moon. I am life long wrestling fan who was first brought into the sport by Randy Savage. If not for him I probably would not have spent a majority of my life being a fan of the sport. Wrestling has always been hobby for me as I have worked in the media. I even mix wrestling into my work covering the Toronto Raptors in the Dino Nation Blog as well. In my work covering basketball I noticed there was a strange cross over of b-ball fans that also shared my love of wrestling.

Frustrated by the product today. I just felt compelled to start writing about wrestling. There is a ton of people covering wrestling online and I am not here to make this my career. I have done that the past 5 years covering the NBA and Raptors. That doesn't mean this will not be good or worth your time. It just means until further notice this is just a hobby for me and gives me a chance to write about something else that I loved once and wish I could love now.